Falling the Wrong Way
by ayanna-kevin
Summary: [pg13 for mild language, violence and romance] 100 years after PoTS, when a prince lives on earth and has no knowledge of Tortall untill his seventeenth birthday. The following of a prince named Kevin as he goes through Tortall...fashion, court, hunts, an
1. chapter one

falling the wrong way  
  
Author's note: this story takes place 100 years after the Protector of the Small series. Things have changed somewhat. The prince in line for the crown goes away to the new found "otherworld," or our world untill the age of seventeen. This is sort of a reverse earth-to-tortall, it's tortall-to-earth. New magics have been added, such as flight, mindreading, and other cool little effects.  
  
Disclaimer: Actually, most of the characters are of my own making. The places in Tortall are not mine (most of them) but made by Tamora Pierce. There are referance to Pierce-made characters and "immortals", but that's about it.  
  
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Chapter One  
  
Kevin looked at the clock above the teacher's desk and sighed, wishing that he could just get out of school forever. Around him the classroom was silent except for the occasional murmer and the sounds of chemistry, unwelcome to most in Mr. Sahrun's class. Bald, mousy Mr. Sahrun was bent over Rhyan Dewbuckle's desk, explaining why something works the way it does. Kevin usually enjoy chemistry, but with spring break on the way he was excited as ever. Kevin was one of those boys pictured in magazines and on tv, he was popular, funny, and into school. He had a loving, caring girlfriend and a future career in soccer. Kevin glanced over the shiny black top of the lab desk and the various beakers and bottles to where his chemistry partner was busy drawing away some graph or another. Occasionally she turned around to talk to an overweight girl who sat next to him in Honor Society, Kevin was pretty sure her name was Darla, though he couldn't be sure. His lab partner had just moved here at the beginning of March. Her name was Ayanna, kind of funky name for a girl. She probably would be a classic beauty if she put on some form fitting clothes and make-up, but she always came to school dressed in easy worn tee shirts and cut off shorts. Her feet were shoved into sneakers that were built for comfort and support rather than looks, her dark locks held up in a ponytail. Her eyes were interesting, they changed often from green to brown, and were fringed with thick, long eyelashes.   
  
Kevin glanced over at the table next to him, where another one of Honor Society's less-than-socialites was busily working on the after-experiment questionare. Her partner was Kevin's close friend Josh, who was drawing crude pictures below the desk. Kevin leaned over and punched his arm playfully, Josh barely glanced up untill his drawing was done, then he looked up with his wicked grin. "Going to come over my place after we get out, Kevin?" He asked, placing the drawing just so that his partner would be able to see it. A little glance up and the girl blushed all the way to the roots of her mousy brown hair.   
  
Kevin leaned back, or as far back as he could go in the backless lab stool. "Uhm, yeah, sure." He said, not particularly caring either way. Sometimes Josh annoyed him, always being reckless and foolish and twisted. Josh gave him another impish grin and leaned over to tease his lab partner into a blush several shades deeper than before. Kevin turned around with a slight roll of his eyes to face Ayanna, busily drawing the different lines on the graph in multiple shades of highlighters. Darla leaned over and presented Ayanna with four more colors, of which she excepted with a relish and handed Darla some of her own four. Hopeless, those two.   
  
The bell rung for the end of the day, and up and down the halls of Midlan Highschool students were rushing to get to lockers and first to their cars and buses. Kevin sauntered along the hallways, joining up with Bryanna Tolk, an airhead who was cute but...brainless. Bryanna gibbered excitedly about the upcoming football game at the start of school after spring break, and Kevin listened carefully but with the air of some one who'd rather be listening to something else. Kevin hugged Bry good-bye at her locker and slapped high five to a couple of friends, then made his way to his own locker.   
  
As he twirled his combination in, Ayanna rushed up to the locker beside his and busily started on her combination. Around her a flurry of girls Kevin did not recognize were talking excitedly, hugging Ayanna around the shoulders. "We'll miss you so much, it was so fun to have you in this wo-school for a while." Said one very pretty brunette as she patted Ayanna's arm fretfully. Kevin wondered what "wo" was that was so very quickly cut off, but the conversation went away quickly. "Write me the rest of the chemistry, and maybe send me some homework assignments? The stuff here is so much more intelectual then back home." She said hopefully, opening her locker and dumping her books into the overly accomodated knapsack. Kevin scrunched up his brow; all of her own stuff was going into the bag, even stuff she did not need. The school property was gone, and her locker stripped of all the ornaments she had prieviously hung there.   
  
A chorus of "we will!"s and "good bye!"s and even a few tears were made as she boarded her bus, the one right before his own, and waved sadly from the window. Kevin was getting even more agitated; where was she going? And why did she want homework from Midlan? Wasn't wherever she was going have a school? Or maybe where she is going isn't a great school, and she wants a challenge. That's all Kevin could think of as he sat back in his seat and watched the cherry blossoms on the trees. Soon however Chet, Rylie, Mark, Dean and Tom got on, plus a couple of girls and at least half the cheer-leading squad, and a heated discussion, jokes, laughs and all around High School chat broke out. Kevin's mind was directed away from the mysterious Ayanna, her group of unknown cronnies, and the like.  
  
* * *  
  
Kevin was the last person off his bus, and he was thoroughly fed up with it by the time he reached home. Kevin strolled up the cobblestone path and onto the shaded front porch, where his Australian sheep dog named Dee lay asleep in the shade. Kevin plopped down on the stair next to the old dog and took off his backpack, streaching as the cool shade enveloped his slightly over hot body. Well, it was spring break. What did he expect? Cancun? His parents would never let him do that untill he could pay himself. And Kevin was so underpayed right now. His fingers ran through the curly, tumbling mass of charcol black hair, his blue eyes squinted against the lancing sun outside. When he finally mustered up the stregnth to pull himself up and fumble in his bag for the key, it was nearly four o clock. Had he really just lazed there for that long? Man, I'm turning into Dee, and Josh'll wanna know where I've been. As he threw open the door, Kevin bellowed "Mom? Dad? Tom?" But no one was home. Odd, on fridays Kevin's mom and his toddler brother usually were home baking something. Kevin threw his bag at the stairs to be carried up to his room next time he felt like going up there. The house felt strangely alone without his family, without little Tom banging around on the pots and bans and his mother singing along to Cat Country.   
  
Kevin went into the Pantry and flung around for some food, coming up with a fistfull of SmartPop and a Diet Coke. He went through the second set of double doors into the kitchen and stopped dead. The color drained out of his face, the popcorn and coke fell out of his hands. Kevin blinked, squinted, and swiped the air in front of him. Ayanna was sitting at the kitchen table, staring directly at him a with a slight grin on her face.  
  
"Wha-what are you doing here? In my...house. In my kitchen?" Kevin was tounge-tied. Right now he was wondering if Ayanna was some sort of lunatic. It wasn't just that she was sitting at his kitchen table with a peanut butter and fluff sandwitch and a cup of lemonade, it was the way she was dressed. Like some midevil princess, she was decked in petticoats and a burgundy over dress. The front was slashed to reveal the lacy underskirt, and since she was sitting down her burgundy silk slippers were revieled. Her bodice was cut low to show her creamy skin, her dark hair held up in pins. It nearly took his breath away, for, she was breathtaking.   
  
Ayanna stood gracefully and sunk into a low curtsy, her voice was odd when she next spoke, sort of genteel and trilly. "My lord, I have come to take you back to the realm of Tortall. There is much to explain my lord, if you come with me I will take you to Tortall, it will take many days to reach the portal, and another noontime to reach the palace." Yep, definantly crazy. Ayanna picked up a bundle of clothing beside her, and Kevin realized it was her cut off jeans and tee shirt, one of the corny ones Honor Society hands out. This one read "I Joined And I Have Honor [Society]" She gathered them up along with her worn sneakers and went into the bathroom to change.  
  
Kevin thought it kind of pointless to get all dressed up to just say a few sentances, but he did not press the matter. When Ayanna came out of the bathroom, everything gone except her hairstyle, Kevin walked over and grabbed her elbow. "Tell me what the hell is going on, and tell me now. Where are my parents? What have you done? Where is Tortall?"  
  
Ayanna seemed entranced with his hand on her elbow, and a slight blush crept up her cheeks. She brushed his hand from her elbow and sighed, placing one hand on her forehead. Ayanna guided herself to a seat and rubbed the rim of her empty lemonade glass. "Sit, Your Magesty, this may take a time to tell." She murmered, and Kevin sat heavily in a chair, feeling almost as strange as Ayanna had looked when he walked in on her in his kitchen. "Um, Kevin. There is another land...called Tortall. It is parellel to this world, but completely different. There are gods, Mithros and the Goddess...there are many. It takes place in what you might call mideavil times. Ladies wear skirts and jewels, lords hunt. There are a few lady knights, but many don't try to be. There is also...magic. Mages, m'lord. I am a mage, with the power of flight. You are a mage, but you wont figure your power untill you enter Tortall."  
  
Kevin didn't want to believe it, but the look of sincerity on her face made him. "So, I'm from this Tortall? Then why am I not there? Why have you let me grow up here? I have a girlfriend, Ayanna! A life! Where are my parents?" Keven felt like he was breaking down.  
  
"My lord! Please, do not rage! It is customary that all princes to inherit the throne of Tortall visit any one of the mirror lands picked by his parents. He stays there untill a certain time, in your case Spring Break of your Junior Year. Then a-" She blushed at this "-famous person of sorts, most often a girl, will come and lead the Prince back to his homeland. I will teach you about your home and etiquiet, m'lord. But we must prepare to leave-"  
  
"Where are my parents?" Kevin asked forcefully, his hands clenching into fists. They would not let this happen.  
  
"They have gone back to Tortall, m'lord. They are really your aunt and uncle, and little cousin. Thom, not Tom. And Alisna, not Alissa. And Bartholeum, not Bart. There you will see them...and your real parents, my lord. But come, we must pack and begone to catch the train at seven."  
  
"Train?...to, where?"   
  
"The coast, my lord." Ayanna replied primly, folding her hands neatly in her lap.   
  
Kevin rolled his eyes and motioned out the window, where in sight the California beach lay sparkling. "If you haven't noticed....?"  
  
"The east coast, my lord. Boston Harbor. To a dock, under the dock to the sea cost, and a cave...there is the portal."  
  
Kevin put his head in his hands and tried to hold back the burning tears...but they came, fast, furious, and unstoppable. His quiet sobs was all that could be heard in the room, everything seemed to have lost itself. Ayanna hesitated, then got up and placed her arms around him, rocking quietly and murmering "shhh, shhhh." 


	2. chapter two

centerfont face=monotype corsivafalling the wrong way/font/center  
  
chapter 2  
  
Kevin watched the california countryside fly by as they entered a particularly rural zone. In the distance there were fields of grape orchards. He was numb inside, like he had never felt before, not even when his parents left at his first summer camp ever, and he had cried for hours before meeting some guys and going swimming. He felt used and alone, like he did not matter anymore. Ayanna and himself had a well furnished compartment on the transamerican express train, with leather seats and a big open window. She sat across from him, her carry light suitcase clutched firmly in her hands. Overhead they each had a medium sized bag, Kevin's few favorite outfits and Ayanna had her ballgown and dress. Kevin stared at Ayanna, and wondered how a simple outfit could have transformed her so. Now in a pair of baggy jeans, a loose tee-shirt advertising: "Don't wear a cow, man" and sneakers which had seen better days, she looked too odd. Her raven's wing hair was held in a no nonsense pony tail, her expression slightly sick as she watched the country side fly by.  
  
Kevin leaned over, watching her expression. She didn't look too good. She was very, very pale and a bit green around the edges as she clasped her suitecase with knuckle-white fingers. A book lay beside her, open and forelorn, abandoned long ago. The title at the top of the page was "The Old Man and The Sea", a book Kevin had read in Eighth Grade Honors English. "Hey, Ayanna, are you okay?"  
  
"Fine, my lord. It is just....I have never been on anything that went quite so fast in my life. Back home we use horses." She said softly, a low moan escaping her throat as she lay back and placed one hand over her head. It was slightly comical, seeing her so when she was supposed to be the bravado-filled one.   
  
Kevin shook his head and sat back, crossing his legs and reaching to swipe "The Old Man and The Sea" from Ayanna's side. She did not try to stop him. He read the first few pages before putting it back beside her. This time she lay a hand over the book, as if protecting it. "Look, Ayanna. If we are going to make this whole huge journey, don't you think it would be easier if you weren't 'my lording' your way to the moon and back. Don't you want to be on even friendly terms? Kevin? Kev, even." For it was true, Ayanna had not tried at all to be even moderately friendly. She only acted like a servent or a lady, someone lower than him. It made Kevin uncomfortable, that anyone made themselves inferior to him.  
  
Ayanna blinked as if seeing Kevin for the first time, a look of confusion crossing her features. Was he really that mean looking? Kevin didn't think so. A smile creeped across her lips then, and she offered one hand, slightly shaky with her motion sickness, to him. "Friends, then. Untill we get to tortall, or better."   
  
Kevin took the proffered hand and shook it, heartily. Then Ayanna dropped her hand and returned to staring out the window, and Kevin figured it was going to be a very long trip indeed.   
  
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Kevin couldn't sleep. It was midnight acording to his watch, and the window shade was rolled down. Ayanna was curled up under a fleece blanket, the kind issued by the train. Her hair had been pulled out of it's pony tail, and her curls fell freely around her face. She looked so innocent asleep. Kevin had the sudden urge to touch the porcelain doll cheeks, to have one of her curls cling to his fingers. As he reached over to gently brush her face, his breath came short. Could it be he actually felt attraction to this girl? At school she wasn't near his social group, and she would never be. She was quiet and distant and rattling, but he felt a pang in his heart when he looked at her, all the same. His fingers brushed her smoothly pallid skin, running down the curls of black hair. Suddenly, her eyes flickered open, and it took a moment to focus. He could have pulled back, denied everything. But her eyes had changed color from the deep brown they were that morning to an almost lime green, and he was captured by them. Ayanna gasped when she realized what he was doing, and later Kevin figured it probably would have been freaky for him if they had been vice versa. But that was hardly an excuse for what she did next. Kevin saw red as the pain from the sharp slap on his cheek sunk in, and sat back with a loud "oomph." Ayanna was sitting up now, the blanket clutched around her shoulders. Her hair was mussed, and there was a red spot on her cheek from where her arm had been. "My lord, what do you think you were doing?" She asked, her voice was a myriad of emotions. Mostly, Kevin reasoned later, horror. But why?  
  
"Oh, well..." He couldn't really think up a good answer. Ayanna eyed him wearily, as a mouse might eye a hungry cat. She then made a pardoning noise and gave a little shrug before falling back into slumber again, though he could tell it was a very light, easily awakened one. Kevin sighed and lay back on his own seat, tugging the plastic off the red fleece blanket and fluffing the pillow under his head. Ayanna was so close, he could reach out and touch her. He forced himself not to, however, and determinedly shut his eyes and tried his best to fall asleep.  
  
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"Did not sleep well, Kevin?" Ayanna asked that morning as they sat in the dining cart, her munching on a full breakfast of eggs, toast, cereal and milk. He only had a small piece of french toast, he had no appetite. He must've looked a holy terror, too. Kevin tried all he could to go to sleep that night, but it was impossible. All he could think of was Ayanna.The touch of her, her skin was so soft, she smelled like earth, fresh things. iI'm in love./i Kevin realized shortly, thunderstruck by the thought. He was in love. Love! It was so odd...yet real.   
  
"Yes, I slept fine, after I got down to it." He said, replying in the same tones she used with him. It was if last night had never happened, as though he had come so close to confessing his feelings and yet...now he wasn't.   
  
"We should be arriving there tomorrow morning, probably around eight." She said testily, as if spending another night with him did not sound any better than spending a night with cockroaches.  
  
"That's good. What will we do after we get off?" Kevin asked in a conversational tone, as if nothing was wrong. He knew there was. And Ayanna would tell him in good time, he knew.  
  
"Well, we'll grab a taxi to take us to the sea. We'll be arriving about ten miles from it. We can stop to eat and rest, if you like. Or sight see. The Highnesses said to let you do as you please untill you enter the land of Tortall. After Boston, we will go down by a certain harbor. We'll have to climb down, and walk a good five miles before we hit an inland cave. There we'll find a small rowboat waiting for us, and it'll take roughly two days -"  
  
"Two?!" Kevin asked, looking incredilous. "Caves aren't that big that it would take two days of even the strongest currents."  
  
"They are weak currents, and it takes two days because we are traveling between realms, Kevin. Think about it. Tortall is a far cry from America." Ayanna said matter-of-factly, before leaving the table. Kevin sighed and pulled out his wallet, giving ten dollars to a sniggering waiter and told him to keep the change.   
  
Kevin then went looking for Ayanna, searching the train for her. She wasn't in the compartment, the resturant, anywhere. Finally, through the windows between trains he saw her, standing on the end, a small platform. It was about four feet long and two feet out, with a flimsy wire railing holding it on. Within arm's reach was the railing of the next car, and through the window a waiter pushed a trolley of snacks through the isles, stopping respectfully at each door. Kevin slid open the door surprisingly easily. He came up and leaned on the railing beside Ayanna. He knew they probably weren't allowed to do this, but Ayanna did not seemed to care. She neither accepted his being there nor shooed him off, and Kevin enjoyed that secret little victory he had won. Score: one for Kevin, none for Ayanna. 


	3. chapter three

Author Updates: Wow! Thanks for all the Reviews! I'm glad everyone has taken to the storyline so well. In reply to Katrina Swann, when I first chose the name "Ayanna", it was for another story completely irrelivent to Falling The Wrong Way. The story fell through, and I decided to bring Ayanna into the story...her resemblance in name to Alanna was brought up by some of my other friends, who came over to read the story. Who knows, maybe it does!  
  
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Falling the Wrong Way  
  
Chapter 3  
  
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The train rolled to a stop, the breaks screaching as the train station rumbled to a halt. Kevin sighed and stood, streaching his legs and grabbing his trunks from the seat beside him. Ayanna was already singing through the doorway, determined to be the first out of the blasted train. Kevin still couldn't figure out the difference between Ayanna sleeping and wearing that gown and Ayanna dressed in every daywear. Today she wore a shirt advertising "The Tiki Room -- Preserving The Birds of Spain Since 1875" And many birds flitting about the shirt, each proudly bearing a banner saying "the tiki room" on it. Kevin wondered idly how she got such a shirt, all the way from spain - and in English - but did not press the matter.  
  
Easily he swung down off the train, happy to be off. The bustling streets of Boston thronged outside of the cool train station, all types of people moving in a large mass down the street. The smell of the sea and the cry of the gulls was familiar to Kevin, and it gave him a pang in his heart as he thought longingly of the California waves. Ayanna was wasting no time in pushing her way through the crowds, it took Kevin all his stregnth to cut through the masses Ayanna seemed to be moving through relatively easily. She hunted down a cab as soon as she broke through to the street side, and it pulled up just as Kevin was hurtling his way down. Ayanna sped into the cab and did not rest untill Kevin was in and they were moving. Then, Ayanna let out a huge gasp of air, and she slouched against her seat happily.  
  
"Why were you going so fast?" Kevin asked irritably, rolling down his window to get a breath of fresh air.   
  
"Foreign embassies." The girl said simply, as if it were the easiest thing to understand anyway. "They crawl all over this city, it's one of the main portals, though not the one we are happening to take."  
  
Kevin nodded, thinking his own thoughts around the matter. He understood Ayanna's rush to get to the Cab, but he had no idea where they were heading untill they pulled up at a very fancy hotel. A glance around and imbronzed on the doors read: "The Westin Hotel." Kevin nearly fell out of the cab as they were getting out; this was no regular hotel! The Westin was like the Ritz almost, a very large scale, fancy, important hotel. As they got out bellboys rushed to their service. A few hung back and looked interested, as those that surged forward bowed and murmered "Glad of a safe arrival, your magesty." Kevin was at a loss for what to do, so he just nodded his head in what he hoped was a regal fashion.   
  
Ayanna's fingers closed around his arm and she steered him away from the rushing bellboys, inside the cool of the hotel. "A select few have been told a prince was here, not of your whereabout country." She informed him, checking in to their room.   
  
"And they don't need to know, right?" Kevin said cheerfully, flinging himself down into a very posh armchair and getting a few glances from well dressed people.  
  
"Right, Kevin. Now, I've checked us two rooms, but they are joined by two doors. I figure we shower and change - new clothes have been provided - then we spend the day in boston. Tomorrow bright and early the portal opens for an hour, and we have to be there, or it closes again."  
  
"When, exactly do we have to be there?" Kevin asked with a cringe, already knowing he would not like the answer.   
  
"The portal opens around six, so we leave at four in the morning." Ayanna said primly before the bellboys came in and bid them follow to their rooms. Kevin groaned and stood, knowing that the wake up bell would only come too soon the next morning.  
  
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Kevin had to admit, the Westin was the perfect hotel. The shower was lovely and the two showerheads made him feel like he would never get out again. The towels were thick and fluffy, and the entire place was made for grand royalty. They had placed him in the Presidential Suite, but he had a strong suspicion the ajoining doors had not been there before they came, and would leave soon after they left.   
  
Who ever picked clothes had a very good taste. They were all big line model names, trendy but still comfortable. Everything from the basketball sneakers to the fitted tee was made as if to fit him and him alone, and he had the same suspicion of a little bit of magical handiwork involved. At that moment, as he was admiring the view from up on the high floor, a polite knock sounded and followed through as Ayanna flicked open the door and strolled in the room.  
  
Though her face was a mask of uncertainty, she was beautifull in the clothes the mysterious provider had set out for them. A low cut white shirt with "Bebe" written across it provided a form fitting t-shirt, and it wasn't every person that shopped there. A black mini skirt with pink ruffles gave her the illusion of being taller than she was, a good thing for the short little miser. And finally, trusty black sandals which had class and style, but also dependability. Her face broke into the first shy smile Kevin had ever witnessed from the otherwise brazen girl, and she threw back the tumbling waves, let down and artfully styled, and said: "So, you want to hit the sights or what?"  
  
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Kevin had never experianced anything like the upper section of Boston in his life. The quaint storefronts that gave an exceptional view of the ocean front succeeded to take his breath away, the items were designer labels and simply stunning. Though Ayanna said they would not be bringing such articles into Tortall, she did not prevent him from buying for his friends. And Kevin did so, if he saw a skirt that Bryanna would really like or a sweater that would make Molly seem a new girl. Rylie would love the shoes Kevin bought him, and Kyle would fall over backwards at the jersies sent to him. It was all going so well, and everything was perfect.  
  
For lunch, they traveled down into the less poshy section, to make it blunt, a horrible section. Kevin could not see why they were leaving the golden glimmer, but Ayanna gave him a small smile and said "there is no other pizza in the world like Santarpio's, you'll see." Santarpio's was right next to a loud Airport, but it seemed not to bother Ayanna in the least as she entered the old building. In the smokey interior a few characters hung out, but not many. Waiters in skimpy little minis trudged around taking and bringing orders, then running back to the kitchens to hang with their friends. Ayanna and Kevin ordered, and Kevin had to admit the pizza looked great when it came.  
  
The taste of the pizza sure made up for any misgivings he had about the place, it was delicious. A burst of flavor, everything good a pizza ever had magnified times a thousand it seemed. [author's note: Santarpio's is a real place, so if you are in the Boston area, go to the airport in east boston and find Santarpio's. I do not lie about their pizza.] Ayanna watched with a satisfied smile, and ate quite a few pieces herself.  
  
  
  
The day was spent languidly, shopping and sight seeing and stopping at any cute looking cafe for lattes or a try of their special cheesecake. Sometimes Ayanna would tell Kevin to hush and run into the nearest shop, and a look around might provide him with any kind of character. Ayanna never explained these rushed retreats, but after the danger the day lightened again.   
  
For dinner, Ayanna took them to a very interesting looking Chinese resturant near a theatre. The food there was different, a mix of all nationalities and a main undercurrent of Chinese. [also a real place] Ayanna told Kevin that she could provide tickets to any show at the theatre, a big place where broadways were often performed. Kevin said he had actually wanted to see Oklahoma, advertised there. They ended up seeing that and Othello, coming home around midnight. Ayanna bid him good night and hurried into her room, leaving Kevin dissapointed: He so at that moment wanted to kiss her.  
  
* * *  
  
A knock on the door sounded at exactly four in the morning, and Ayanna strolled in to wake Kevin. He groaned and flipped over, forcing Ayanna to beat him with a pillow a few times before he rolled out of bed, mumbling that he was up. He rubbed his eyes and saw clothes layed out in a neat pile on a chair near the writing desk. He moved over and put them on lazily, examining each piece of material. These were not every day clothing, but rough cotton and silks, and an outer layer of fleece and a rubbery material that proved, after a try at the sink, to be waterproof. Kevin bundled the rubbery parka like thing under his arm and went out into the hall, where Ayanna was already waiting with breakfast.  
  
Kevin had never eaten a bowl of cereal in the hallway of a fancy hotel, and if there was anything he could do, he wouldn't repeat the experiance. A few early morning risers walked past, giving them an unusual stare before hurrying on. It took both Ayanna and Kevin no time to eat before they started off. A nondescript cab was already waiting for them at the entrance, and took off at a gravel crunching speed down the streets of boston, empty but of a few cars for once.   
  
Ten minutes later Ayanna was saying good-bye to the cab driver and crunching her way down a gravel path to the ocean. Kevin shivered, in the early morning it was very cool. There was no one about, no dog walkers, no drunks. Under a dock, as Ayanna had promised, there lay a very forboding cave. The sides where the land met the incoming rush of the water were steep, they would have to get in the boat and ride down the sides. Ayanna gave Kevin a life preserver and she herself struggled into one, buckling the clips and adjusting the straps.  
  
Ayanna was in the front, Kevin in the back. The boat was a sturdy canoe-like structure, easily twelve feet long and fifty or so pounds. At the bottom were oars, made for cutting easily through the waves. Ayanna gave Kevin no instructions, bade him no last goodbyes, but pushed the boat off the edge of the bank. Kevin nearly fainted as the nose jutted out into air, nothingness; then slowly, as if a camera was flicked onto slow motion, pointed down and fell towards the rushing water.  
  
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Oooh, I love a good cliff hanger! Please keep R&R, I really enjoyed reading your posts. Don't be afraid to critique, and if you think something really important should happen, tell me! You never know, I might just add it. 


	4. chapter four

Falling The Wrong Way  
  
Chapter Four  
  
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Author Updates: Thanks for the, er, ONE review for chapter three. Come on people! Anyway, this is the chapter a lot of you have been begging for, when the mysterious beauty Ayanna tells of her past...and you will be shocked! Read at your own risk, and BEG for more! {meaning: REVIEW, PEOPLE!}  
  
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Kevin felt the plunge as the canoe nose-dived downward, smacking the water hard and nearly dislodging him from his seat. Ayanna's paddle was already fast at work, dodging them around the jutting outcrops that were rocks and other debris caught and buried, forcing their way against the current. Also, the shore loomed nearer, and unlike the smoother slope that they had navigated down, the rest of the terrain to either side jutted out with rocky ledges and lethal sandbars. To work around these obsticals, it took all of Kevin and Ayanna's stregnth.  
  
They had been outside of the cave for half an hour, having to stop once or twice to bail, and the rest was just pure battle against the current. Now, as they past under the shadow of the gaping black mouth of the cave, Kevin felt the first stirrings of excitement that had crossed his mind since he left. A prince, fancy that. "Tell me something, anything about Tortall." Kevin said. Now that the water was easier going, the banks further out and little debris to catch the craft, they could afford to talk.  
  
Ayanna's back straightened from her momentary rest, oar on her lap. Now it dug into the water, churning thoughtfully as Ayanna chose where to speak first. "It's not like here. Not a democracy. Yes, a King and Queen rule. But...they do care for the people. When they change laws, it's a painfully slow process. They love the people, and most of the people love them."  
  
"Most?" Kevin asked slightly nervously.  
  
Ayanna shrugged, digging her paddle into the water again. "You always have those unsatisfied with the ruling of the Monarchy. Always some one conspirating against you. It is what your guards and spies are for." On the word spies, Ayanna seemed to struggle, as if something was not right. Kevin wondered briefly. "To the North, Scanra. Rugged, mountain turrain. Lots of problems with bandits from that area. To the nor'east, Galla. To the east, Tusaine, and beyond that, Maren. To the sou'east, you have Tyra. The south of tortall is water, The Great Inland Sea, and beyond that Carthak."  
  
She paused, and Kevin took the advantage to say "So, when we exit the cave, where will we end up?"  
  
"Further from the capital, Corus, then I'd of liked. We will actually end up in the city of Tyra, in Tyra. There we will travel the coast with an armed escort untill we reach Port Legann. There, Duke Ellington, who lives there, will house us. We will stay for a few days, recuperate our energy, and then take the Port Way to Persopollis. Once there, we will again rest, and then continue to travel northward up The Great Road South, to travel for a few miles on The Great Road East, and end up in Corus, where the castle is. And your real parents."  
  
Kevin's head was spinning. The coast. Great Roads. Some how he figured this was definantly more than a few cheap miles spent around the block. "How...long will this take?" He asked breathily.  
  
"Oh, a few weeks at best, because you aren't accustomed to long hours in the saddle. And a full guard doesn't travel far." She hid a smile, as if she had had to put up with their slow moving armies before. "The Queen's Riders are so much better." She informed him, and launched into a descriptive detail about the army and queen's riders, about the different types of peole and attacks, and finally about many different wars, from Tusaine to the Immortals, to the Scanra, to the new aged ones, the end of the K'miri wars, and a war with Galla that lasted only a year. Other than that they had been relatively peacefull.  
  
A few hours later, Kevin's energy was flagging. His muscles were sore, the wet was starting to seep through his clothes, and if he had to sit for another minute he'd scream. When he was about to work up the courage to ask Ayanna to stop, Ayanna suddenly pulled over to the right bank. "We're done now, Kevin." She said softly, before jumping knee deep into the water to pull the craft ashore.   
  
Kevin got out slowly, streaching the kinked muscles that had too long been dormant. Ayanna was busy at work unloading the boat. She started a small fire with the wood that somehow remained dry, and placed the damp logs next to it to dry them. She took out a clay pot and filled it with river water, setting on a raised platform atop the fire to boil. Kevin, feeling helpless, sauntered over to their rolled up mats and sleeping bags, setting them up next to eachother. It was then that he realized Ayanna had stopped working. And she was blushing.  
  
Kevin looked up, then down at the bags, then realized what Ayanna was thinking. Two bags. Next to eachother. Fine for a campout with a bunch of his guy friends, but she was a girl. And there were no...adults within any range. Grinning sheepishly, he picked up one of the rolls and matts and placed it opposite the fire. Ayanna just shook her head without saying a word and got back to making the soup, which involved throwing a pack of dried noodles and spices into the boiling water, then pouring the water into two bowls made of clay and accompanied by clay spoons. "Silver along this trip would only cause trouble." Ayanna said plainly, stirring her soup in it's bowl. "Theives could attack before we came to the army, a good day's walk horseless from the cave."  
  
Kevin nodded his understanding and delicately sipped at the broth, surprisingly rich and tasty for a bit of noodles, plants and boiled river water. He ate with an appetite then, one his mother-- no, his aunt, would call a male's starvation trick.  
  
Ayanna finished her bowl but did not take any more. When Kevin eyed the last remaining soup, Ayanna inclined her head to let him take it. It was not untill he finished it that she did more work than he, and may have been hungrier. Instead of letting that thought linger, he brought forth in his mind something that had interested him from the beginning. "Ayanna, what is your history?"  
  
Ayanna looked up surprised and flustered, a slight blush rising on her cheeks. "E-excuse me, Kevin?" She asked humbly, smoothing down her shirt front with trembling hands.  
  
"You seem to know everything there is about me. You could probably name the guys on my third grade basketball team --"  
  
"The Rockets. Corey, Jonas, Steve, You, David-"  
  
At Kevin's glare Ayanna meekly subsided, her eyes downcast modestly. Kevin went on, staring hard at Ayanna as if willing her to look up. "Yeah, see? But I don't know the first thing about you. So. I want to know. And I won't let you or I move from this spot untill you tell me." He said smugly, crossing his legs for the affect. "Please?" He added softly, and finally Ayanna lifted her face. The look in her eyes...Kevin was thrown by it. There were tears and anger and sadness and hapiness. Her entire history.  
  
Ayanna sighed, then nodded. "Alright. I guess...I do owe you. But Kevin, it's not what you think. Not at all. You...won't believe it. No, you won't, don't stare at me like that! I don't even believe it sometimes, but I know...I know. Oh, god, when I wake up in the middle of the night, screaming, begging for mercy those bastards never gave me, I know...it's not any horrible fantasy. It's so, so real." There were tears coursing down her cheeks, and her eyes were half shuttered.  
  
Kevin felt a pang deep within his heart. Whatever had happened to poor Ayanna, it had to have been terrible. Slowly he stood up, not knowing what made him do it. But he walked over and sat behind his newfound friend, legs streched out in front of him. His arms encircled her small body. "You need to eat more." He murmered, and it was true. Ayanna was not gaunt, but she teetered dangerously between healthy and too thin. His fingers danced up her arms to play with her hair, which at some point during their crazy ride and the setting up had sprung loose of it's informal pony tail to drape like a midnight curtain around her soft features.  
  
Ayanna knew she should run. Heck, deep down, she wanted to run. She wanted to get up, brush herself off, babble some story about it being late and crawl into bed. And she wanted to wake up, shove Kevin into the arms of the nearest traveling merchant and book it as far away from the handsome and interesting young prince as possible. But...she knew. First, she loved being held by him, for some odd reason. Never, never before had she let anyone touch her like this. Not even her sisters. But when he did, it made her feel safe, protected. Loved. Those thoughts alone stopped her dead in her tracks...she had never felt that before. Ever in her young sixteen years. Young? Hah.   
  
"It begins...well, it begins truly in 1609, in a port that would one day become Boston's own, and on a ship filled with some of the first pilgrims. They were anxious to be off the ship, but the harbor where the captain planned to dock was covered in snow and ice, and it was so cold the harbor around 100 feet out was frozen. Upon the ship, there were the interests of our story...Hope McDuffy. She was fifteen, with black hair, a pert face, and eyes that changed constantly from brown to green." Ayanna paused to collect her thoughts, and thats when Kevin noticed her own eyes flick to a brilliant green.  
  
"You?" He said tentatively, already knowing the answer. 1609. If it was now 2004, that means that Ayanna was over 400 years old. Well, she didn't belong in Midlan High School, that was a fact.   
  
Ayanna paused, then leaned back against his chest. Kevin's arms tightened around her tiny frame, giving her the stregnth to continue. "Yes. She was alone, her parents dead, her only hope to find a husband who would accomodate her three younger siblings. And a new life...a place to start over, would have been wonderfull." She smiled weakly. "I was such a fool. The next youngest was thirteen year old Repentance, then ten year old Benjamin, then five year old Elizabeth." She stopped to draw a shuddering breath. "That winter, many of us were starving, and sick, and dead. Out of the three hundred people that were on the ship, when I left one hundred and fifty were still remaining. Because we could not house the dead, so many for so long, we would give them a sailor's funeral and throw them overboard. It got to the point that a few loved ones would come, and then we'd all resume our work...death was a constant companion, and if we couldn't get used to it's ever present shadow, then we ourselves would perish from the anguish."  
  
Kevin's head was reeling. It couldn't be true. It had to be. It couldn't. He rested his lips in Ayanna's hair, and he felt her momentarily stiffen. But something had changed between them, as she was telling him her darkest secret. Now, all of the sudden, she was some one different, some one Kevin was fairly sure he...well, he loved. And that was a scary thought for him. Really scary.  
  
"Anyway, Hope -- me, well, was the beauty of the ship." A slight smile played upon her lips. "All the boys, even the men, followed me with their eyes. And I was a flirt, loving the attention. It would be easy to find myself a husband. There was one man, William Duvalt, who hated me, though. He came as one of the preachers, to bring to us god. He called me a Harlot, a whore. Though only 20, William acted as though he was an old man, hating the young lover's game. He said if they got rid of me, all our problems would be solved. He spat hellfire. I could not understand his hate for me, and stopped coming to mass on Sundays." She bit her deep red lips, and closed her eyes. Her hands clentched and unclentched, and she went on.   
  
"Finally, the people were so driven by hunger, they agreed to get rid of me. One night, the coldest of the cold, dawning early Janurary, they came in. They gaged me and tied me with rough sailor's rope, called me a trollop and a witch, seducing their sons and husbands for the devil. It was the worst day of my life...and my poor, beautifull siblings...they would be taken in by that horrible William himself. I could have killed them all that night."  
  
Kevin was angry now. His poor Ayanna! The treatment she must have gone through...but he knew the worst was coming by far.  
  
"They threw me overdeck. The water was freezing cold...it felt like it shattered my bones. I cried for mercy, begged for them to release me, in the end, begged for death to take me. I blacked out as the cold invaded my veins, and I thought surely it was to be my death."  
  
"I woke up a week later, wrapped in dearskins and shivering from fever. I was next to a fire, hot bricks were around me. I recognized a tee-pee for the stories given to us by merchant sailors, but I was not afriad for my life. In fact, the Indians treated me better than my own people had. I never found out why or how they saved me, I only know that I became one of them. I spoke their language, I learned their religion and their song. I was called Girl-Who-Lives-In-Ice, though I cannot remember my name in their tounge." She gave a wry smile at the name she had been given.  
  
"I lived with them for a year, on the crest of my sixteenth birthday...I was out picking berries, it was the top of the berry season. My best friend, She-Who-Runs-With-Deer, was back at the village with her mother. I was going to hurry and then come back to the village to help prepare a feast for our Hunters, who would go out the next day. But, as I was picking berries, I came upon a very odd creature. It was a squirrel, yes, but plump and with a flat tail. It's front teeth were flat, it was larger than a squirrel. It was a beaver, but I had never seen them. Delighted, I tried to catch it, to hold it. The beaver ran, and ran. It ran to the edge of a large outcropping of land and jumped, smacking the water and hurrying under. I could swim very well, so without looking down to see the current or anything, I jumped right in."  
  
"It ended up being the entrance to the cave. With the current, of course, I was swept away. However, it was stronger back then, and bore me all the way past here. I saw another mouth opening, where the water looked calmer. I battled the current and moved into the opening. But the current was strong and swift, and dragged me under. Once again, I blacked out thanks to the damn water."  
  
Her face paled now, as if this was the hardest part. Her hands flitted over her face, her hair, reaching up to brush his cheeks, running her fingers over his five o' clock shadow before snatching them back, blushing slightly. "When I woke...again...I was on a shore. I didn't know where, but it wasn't my world. These were tall trees, older than ours. They were shrouded in mist, fine as a spiders web. It clung to a body, engulfed it, owned it. This was the home of Druids, of magic makers. Once again I was given a name other than Hope, for like my name I had seemed to loose all of it. Hope. I was named after my animal, I was named Fish. Charming, huh? But they found me in the water, guided by a school of fish to their shore."  
  
"At first, I had no problem. The Druids treated me kindly, showed me their religion, taught me their words. They were wonderful, magic makers and spell binders. Scary, yes. They worshiped the greatest animals, the predators. They sacrificed their own to the predators, sacrificed their grains to the herbavores. Thank god I was never chosen..." She cleared her throat and closed her eyes, then went on. "But happiness, even in such a...terrible form as the Druids, was never long for me. I do not know who, but men came. In armor. They slaughtered our people, destroyed them. I managed to escape, with a young man of about eighteen years. His name was Tiger, and he was the finest of the hunt. But he was weak and would not die for the honor of his tribe. Tiger, when we were alone..." She swallowed, ducking her head aside in shame. "Tried many things. I screamed and beat on him...and finally, took a dagger to his heart. His dying words were `Fish, I gave you a chance...but you will not repay my love, so you will never find it. Sixteen years now, and sixteen years hence, untill another man doth take my place at your side.' And he was dead."  
  
Kevin was starting to realize the turn of events here, but said nothing, only held her safe within the circle of his arms, as if to protect her from her hurt. Ayanna blinked a few times, took a shuddery breath, and went on. "I truly don't remember how I ended up in Tortall, but I do know I was there. Suddenly, I was before the king, and a man, maybe in his thirtees, was saying `see, I was right Jon! She is a time traveler, but from where, and how?' And he babbled on untill a young woman with a babe at her side quieted him. `Look Numaire, see how frightened she is? Her clothes are in tatters, and she hasn't eaten right in a while it seems. Let us clean her up, and then we can deal with the matters of where she came from.' There is not much to say after that. I helped with time traveling. I saw men die and babies born and grow. And never did I age a day past sixteen. At first, I could not understand it. Why, at thirty, no small wrinkles were beginning to show. Why, at fourty, I had no grey in my hair. Why at fifty I did not have to dye my hair and powder my face to look young. Why at sixty I could jump on a horse and ride miles. Why at seventy I was not hobbling. Why at eighty I was not confined to my chambers. Why at ninty I felt no signs of death. Why at one hundred I was not dead. And then I remembered."  
  
"I will not be able to age untill I find true love. I tried, so hard, thinking that this man was the one, this one was the one. But no, none broke this curse layed upon me. None could wash Tiger's blood from my hands, cleanse my soul. Untill I find my one true love, I will remain locked in the body of a sixteen year old, and forever growing older and wasting away inside."  
  
And that was it. Kevin's arms drew her tightly into a circle as her tears came, and he realized just how much of a curse she had. Too be that old and not be in eternal rest. To not have a family, to enjoy a husband...because to everyone around her she was forever sixteen.   
  
"And so, to hide the fact I did not age, the royal family did something that I am greatfull for. They made me their spy. I cannot be killed, my wounds heal. I am forever changing appearances, though you happen to see me in my real form. But as a spy, no one knows I am a four hundred and some odd year old freak."   
  
She turned around then, her eyes wide, a light green. Kevin shakily brushed away her tears, then slowly, like an actor in some odd movie, bent down and lightly brushed her lips with his own.   
  
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Phew! I'm beat. This is the seventh page and it's nearly ten, so I'm going to upload and hit the bed. Please R&R, before I have to beat it out of you! 


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